In Conversation

Ricky Gervais Regrets Building That House Out of Money, but Not Working with Kermit

Shortly before this interview, Ricky Gervais had tweeted a tongue-in-cheek description of just how happy he was to be doing press interviews for his new movie, Muppets Most Wanted, on, as he called it, a “glorious California day.” Granted, it was hard to blame Gervais, who had been subjected to countless interview after interview, being asked question after question about what it means to be in a Muppet movie. What is his motivation? What does it all mean?

Of course, it wasn’t quite as nice in New York City on that particular day, but I still had to give up my Sunday, too, to talk to Gervais. And, dammit, I was going to let him know that he’s not the only one with precious time. But, then, Gervais almost seemed strangely relieved that someone had called him out about this, which resulted in a loose and off-the-cuff conversation with topics that spanned his career—and gives us some perspective on why Gervais, a famous control freak, accepts the roles that he does.

In Muppets Most Wanted, Gervais plays Dominic Badguy, a man who convinces the Muppets to let him be their manager. But, as it turns out—especially with that not-at-all cryptic last name—Dominic has some nefarious ulterior plans of his own. And, more importantly, with Muppets Most Wanted, maybe Gervais can afford some chairs instead of just sitting on his piles of cash.

(As this interview was starting, the publicist gave me a warning about not going over the allotted time.)

Ricky Gervais: Oh my God, the meter is running. The clock is ticking! Quick, first question!

VF Hollywood: How many times have you said that today?[Laughing] Oh, sorry about this. You’re being kind. Go for it.

I saw your tweet about having “only six more hours left” of interviews on a beautiful L.A. Sunday day. To be fair, I was at a Mexican restaurant here in New York and came home to talk to you. This works both ways.
Well, O.K., yeah, I suppose you’ve brought into perspective our first world problems. Didn’t it, yeah?

I did.
Some people are homeless. This is when I feel most spoiled—when I have to sit around in luxury hotel suites talking about myself for a couple of hours.

And talking about your new big-budget major motion picture that you are the star of.
[Laughs] Exactly! That I’ve been paid for.

You lead a rough life, and I’m trying to get that message out there for you.
You see, if I still got paid cash in hand by the week—but I was paid a year ago for this, so the thrill has run out.

You should work out your contract where you get a good percentage on the day of the press day.
Exactly. Yeah, yeah. That would be lovely—to get it in a briefcase. A security guard brings it and I go, “Yep, it’s all there. O.K., shoot, question . . .”

And you’d be sitting there, in your pile of money with a big smile on your face.
Well, I’m doing that now. It’s [that] the thrill of sitting on money has really diminished for me over the last few years. I think I’m going to get some chairs! It’s ridiculous! See, I thought it would be a good idea to have my house made out of cash. But, it’s really not that comfortable.

People are going to love us after this interview publishes. We will be called “salt-of-the-earth guys.”
Yeah, I’m down with the people. I am a man of the people. Who are these fucking people?

They will hate me more for complaining, because you are famous.
Yeah, but it’s a double-edged sword this fame thing. I think people think they sort of respect famous people. But, deep down, they hate them as well. It’s really odd.

But you seem like a very well-liked guy.
That’s the headline, “I Spoke to the Very Well-Liked Ricky Gervais . . . In L.A. Complaining About Being Inside Sitting on a Chair Made of Money.”

It’s interesting watching you act with Muppets.
Yeah, I know, people think that my film choices are sometimes odd. My film choices have been sort of fantasy rom-com, like with Ghost Town. I just did Night at the Museum 3, which is a kids family movie. And now I’m doing the Muppet movie. But, I’m also fans of those films. And because I’m an actor for hire, I don’t really take acting roles—I create my own stuff. I’ve turned down loads of movies, not because they’re bad, it’s because I’m busy. I don’t get any pleasure about seeing myself on the big screen or being called a film star.

Why is that?
My buzz is creating my own characters, directing, writing. It’s the creative process that excites me. And I am a bit of a control freak, and that’s what excites me—sort of doing everything. And these are sort of time off. These are fun. I choose films that are fun to do. And, also, I do like Muppets. I really love the Muppets. There’s nostalgia. And I really like the attitude of the Muppets—I like the fact that they’re optimists. And even in my stuff that some say is more cynical—like The Office or Extras or Derek—it’s still creating fictional heroes and villains. It’s a sort of role-play for the soul. We create them so no one really gets hurt: the mean get their comeuppances and the good get rewarded.

I get what you mean when you say these are fun, but I know you’re a control freak, so that’s why it surprises me you do these movies, because you have to give up control. Is that hard for you to do?
Well. What you have to do is relinquish the initial idea—you know, which isn’t yours. I haven’t created the franchise, they were already around. I’ve done the Muppets, an episode of The Simpsons, I’ve done a Family Guy. I can’t call them my babies because they already existed. I make pretty safe bets.

That’s an interesting way to put it.
You know, I’m not going on a limb [laughs]. It’s pretty safe! And, you know what, these guys have done O.K. without me. This one might be all right. But, yeah, I don’t treat those as my babies. If you were to ask me what have I done, what are my babies . . . as great as it is doing The Simpsons and the Muppets and the Golden Globes, they’re fun—but that’s not part of my career. Win, lose, or draw, the next day I’m writing a new thing that is my baby.

I feel The Invention of Lying was your baby.
That was a collaboration between myself and Matthew Robinson, but I’d have to take the glory or blame for that one, yes.

It was an interesting concept. Looking at the way you tweet about religion, is there something you wish you had done differently with that movie to reach a larger audience?
I think I would have been more honest about it. I think the nervous thing about marketing the film, you don’t want to give everything away. And you don’t want to patronize people. And I said it was a fantasy rom-com about a liar. I wish I would have called it, The Birth of Bullshit. But, I thought I was being more subversive with a very controversial subject in a family rom-com . . . on the face of it, it was this really sweet, Hollywood rom-com—and then a big message* in the middle. I stand by that, but I would have probably changed the marketing. I’d have been more honest. I would have said that a lot of people are going to be offended by this.

But I think people tell people too much. There’s too much out there. You look at trailers now, they’re three-minute trailers that tell you exactly what’s going to happen in the film. They’re focus grouped to an inch of their life. And that’s because people don’t want to take the chance. They don’t want to go out and watch a movie they didn’t like. They don’t care if it changes their perspective or of it makes them think or if it makes them angry. They want to see the same rom-com they liked when they saw it three weeks ago. And that’s why all rom-coms are the same and all adventure films are the same. They’re all the same! They just change the names slightly. That’s because they want to get as many people into that theater as possible with no offense . . . they have to make their money back. And that’s where TV—premium cable and, now, Netflix—is beating Hollywood up. Because they’re not panicking, they’re letting people find it and that’s where excellence is found—where you don’t panic, you don’t focus group, and you don’t beg.

Here’s something I’ve always wanted to ask about. The first episode of the American version of The Office uses the same script as the first episode of the English version of The Office. At one point on the American version, Michael Scott and David Brent meet. Which means that they live in the same universe and at one point in their lives, they separately lived the exact same day with the same events occurring.
Yes, I knew that. I knew there would be people saying, “But they’re the same person.” And I thought, So what? It’s fun. Of course, it’s impossible, but what I’m saying is that I don’t think most people watch the American Office thinking, This is a complete remake with different actors playing the same role. They thought it[it’s] probably a different documentary about a different office in America. And I think because it was never said, “This is a remake of the English version of The Office,” and it was a documentary, I think the rules are different. I think if two Doctor Whos met, and now it’s the same person, that would cause the time-space continuum problems. But I think people just thought, These are two office managers. And, let’s be honest, there’s not much crossover there. There are not many people in the world who watch both shows religiously and even cared. What was fun was David Brent meeting Michael Scott, I think.

It’s fitting these guys lived the exact same day.
And the reason I did it, I wanted conspiracy theories about David Brent taking over for Steve Carell. That is the honest thing. I even said, I threw a thing in, I said, “Any jobs going?” And I knew that would cause some [laughs].

This article has been corrected to more accurately quote Gervais’s comments about The Invention of Lying.